TL/DR: Once again, I found myself intrigued with the variety of books spotlighted in “The Minotaur Sampler, Volume 16: New Books to Make Your Heart Race”. I apologize for the lengthy review. It is probably easier to download samples of the book or the sampler for yourself. These books are all unique.

The first book spotlighted was “The Girl in the Green Dress” by Mariah Frederick. It is a historical fiction novel based on the “impossible locked room murder” in 1920 of the gambler Joseph Elwell. It follows Morris Markley who hopes to make a name for himself.

Under the pretense of helping and having the good luck of living just across the street, Markley does try to help Elwell, but isn’t hopeful, having seen his share of death in war. He then tells the housekeeper that because the doors and windows are locked, the intruder may still be inside.

He searches the house, making some interesting discoveries and then when “caught” goes across the street to call in his story. While he isn’t a part of the world in which Elwell traveled, he knows someone who is. Newly famous Scott Fitzgerald and his wife Zelda.

My personal experience is that historical novels can go either way for me, but I did enjoy the first few chapters.

If you like a book based on a real life, locked room murder, this may be just up your alley. I would be interested to see how it ends. This book will be published on September 9, 2025.

The second book spotlighted is by award winning writer Hank Phillippi Ryan titled “All This Could Be Yours”. I was hooked from the first few pages.

It follows a woman who is sick of others taking credit for her work and then cleaning up after them when they screw up. She has a social media account and documents leaving her job and then writing a best selling novel.

It is implied that all is not as it seems with her past and some things have happened at home (her husband bought a new house with her advance) and someone sent her earrings at her old home address.

She ends up finding a locket in her hotel room and turns to her followers. I don’t think she is going to like where it leads. I was lucky enough to receive a copy of this book to review and it is due out on September 9, 2025.

The third book is “The case of the missing crime writer” by Ragnar Jónasson and takes places in Iceland. It also seems to follow different timelines.

The premise of the book is interesting. One of the characters seems to have recently gotten out of a toxic relationship and the book opens up with the writer they are trying to find giving an interview in which she says some pretty interesting things.

I think this is going to be an interesting book and I wish it the best of luck. I would suggest downloading a sample if you are interested as it goes back and forth between multiple people and settings. This book is also due to be published September 9, 2025.

The last book, is “A Murderous Business” by Cathy Pegau. It is sold as a sharp, captivating historical mystery about two queer women in turn-of-the-century New York with a blurry line between what is ethical and what is legal.

I have to be honest, I didn’t get much out of the first chapters of the book other than the feeling that this was going to be an interesting book. Both FMC’s are women doing a man’s job. This is also a book I would be interested in reading.

Again, I find it hard to sum up the first few chapters expect the main character is worried that her family business and by extension her father may have sickened and killed people. This is based on a note of someone no longer with the company who was found dead before she could explain in further detail, and who should not have been on the property. This book will be available on September 16, 2025.

I would like to thank St. Martin’s Publishing Group and by extension MacMillan as well as NetGalley for a copy of this sampler. All opinions are my own and my review is voluntarily given. As always, I wish you happy reading.

Another great selection of books up coming! Cannot wait to get my hands on these. Thanks as always for providing these samplers!

I love these samplers! A great way to know if you can’t live without a book before committing.

Thank you @netgalley and @stmartinspress

Titles:

The Girl in the Green Dress

All This Could Be Yours

The Mysterious Case of the Missing Crime Writer

A Murderous Business

Of all the titles - I’m definitely watching for All This Could Be Yours!

As always, the perfect way to get a sneak preview of upcoming books. Love these samplers!

Thank you to NetGalley & St. Martin's Press | Minotaur Books for the digital ARC!

Yay! My most favorite part of NetGalley, (St. Martin's Press | Minotaur Books) is the famous Minotaur Sampler.
This is The Minotaur Sampler, Volume 16 with four amazing samples written by a couple of my favorites Cathy Pegau; Mariah Fredericks; Hank Phillippi Ryan; Ragnar Jónasson.
A fantastic collection of upcoming reads. These samplers are a great way to build your want to read list.

I'll start by extending a big thanks to the authors included, St. Martin's Press (Minotaur Books), and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this sampler of historical fiction, The Minotaur Sampler, Volume 16. I hadn't gotten a chance to read any of the authors included yet, so I was very intrigued to see if any of the books struck me as something I would put on my TBR. I did end up putting a couple of the titles on my TBR after reading through the samples. The Case of the Missing Crime Writer and A Murderous Affair both seemed really great, and I'm looking forward to reading more of those stories! The covers of the books immediately made me want to check them out, as they are all very well-designed and eye catching! Thanks again!

5/5 stars!

Thank you to Minotaur for this sampler. The excerpts were great, I’m looking forward to read a few.

While I usually love these samplers, I did not enjoy this collection of books. The last version was absolutely awesome and this one fell quite short in comparison. I wasn't really drawn in by any of the books featured. I always enjoy discovering new authors, but this one just didn't do it for me.

This review was also posted on Goodreads.

Thank you to Netgalley and Minotaur Books for providing these excerpts from the upcoming publications.

I find the Minotaur Sampler volumes to be a good way to decide if a book is for me. This sampler contains excerpts from the following books:

A Murderous Business by Cathy Pegau
All This Could Be Yours by Hank Phillippi Ryan
The Girl in the Green Dress by Mariah Fredericks
The Mysterious Case of the Missing Crime Writer by Ragnar Jónasson

Please note that my copy contained an excerpt for a novel by Ragnar Jónasson instead of The Quiet Mother by Arnaldur Indridason as pictured on Goodreads. In addition, there were some formatting issues with a few chapters from a couple of the stories out of order.

This sampler had a range of selections for me from a favorite author to several with which I am unfamiliar. The story descriptions both intrigued me and left me thinking not for me. I had one of the books on my TBR already since the author is a favorite and one of the books was on my maybe list. I confirmed that one was not for me and was intrigued by a new to me author, adding a new book to my TBR that I have seen reviewed on Bookstagram already.

The. Girl in the Green Dress by Mariah Fredericks

This book had a really intriguing start—the death of a man involved in an investigation several years prior. I loved the introduction to the murder before the story jumps back thirty years to the main focus of the tale. You’re pulled in rather immediately and honestly can’t wait to find out what happens next.

All This Could Be Yours by Hank Philippi Ryan

Tessa is immediately compelling as a character. I found myself quickly interested in her tale and even more so interested in seeing what path this thriller takes. Admittedly, I do think that this one might be a little tough to read, though, on account of the stalker themes.

The Mysterious Case f the Missing Crime Writer by Ragnar Jónsson

The idea behind this story is definitely one that should have appealed to me. I think many of us book lovers really enjoy the idea of reading about other writers, but sometimes it does have the unfortunate result of making the story feel a little harder to get into. I did, however, love the inclusion of author interviews as a form of storytelling—epistolary is always really fun to see!

A Murderous Business by Cathy Pegau

Much as I appreciate the idea of two women taking over their families businesses in the early 1900s being a central theme for a book, this story was admittedly a little tough to get into. I just couldn’t seem to find the beginning very attention grabbing and sort of lost interest as the story continued.

Another fun sampler collection to get a taste of some upcoming releases. There were some formatting issues where chapters appeared in the wrong section (within a different book's sample!) which created some confusion for this reader. The four stories contained a range of characters, settings, and time periods. The two I enjoyed the most took place in early 20th century America. Historical fiction + mystery is a favorite genre combo of mine. I will be most interested to read Cathy Pegau's "A Murderous Business."

Thanks to Minotaur for providing another excellent sampler, which has me even more excited about Hank Phillippi Ryan's upcoming mystery suspense, All This Could Be Yours.

Always love a Minotaur Sampler. You get the chance to try out some books you may not otherwise read. This one was a bit of a miss for me, but there were samples from Hank Phillippi Ryan, Arnaldur Indridason, Cathy Pegau and Ragnar Jonasson.

Most of these books were more mystery than thriller but there's still a good mix for everyone!

Thank you to Netgalley for "The Minotaur Sampler, Volume 16" with excerpts from new books by Cathy Pegau; Mariah Fredericks; Hank Phillippi Ryan; Ragnar Jónasson. All opinions are my own.

This is a great sampler with multiple new books. The first few chapters of each got me interested and excited to read these books.

Highly recommended to mystery readers! These bite sized samples introduce each story just enough to make you want more! I can’t wait to read the rest of the Girl in the Green Dress.

For each title, find out what each story is about, read a generous sample, and learn more about the authors.

Thank you St. Martin's Press | Minotaur Books and NetGalley!

A great tool for acquisition purposes that I really appreciate. Thanks NetGalley.


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Yet again, I am here to praise this series of wonderful free samples of forthcoming mysteries. This time the books are written by Cathy Pegau; Mariah Fredericks; Hank Phillippi Ryan; Ragnar Jónasson; many of these are authors whose books I have read including last year’s title by Jonasson. I am excited to be coming back for more. I am also intrigued by the thought of reading a novel featuring Zelda Fitzgerald.

For each title, find out what it is about, read a generous sample and learn more about the author including the names of their other books.

Highly recommended to mystery readers!

Many thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press-Minotaur for this title. All opinions are my own.

I love these samplers! This one happens to have several books I'm interested in checking out. Thank you so much St. Martin's & NetGalley for the ARC.

I love these samplers. Such a great way to learn about new books and to try a few chapters before committing.

Thank you St. Martin's Press | Minotaur Books and Net Galley!